International Journal of Emerging Markets: Scopus, Metrics, Scope and Submission Guide

How This Journal Profile Was Prepared

Journal-specific information in this guide is based primarily on the official Emerald journal page and author guidelines, together with the Scopus source identifier supplied with the journal record. The guide also distinguishes Clarivate’s Journal Impact Factor from Scopus-based CiteScore data. Where the official sources used here did not state a value—such as a current SJR, SNIP or category-specific quartile—the table tells readers to verify the live database rather than filling the gap with an unverified number.

What Does the Journal Aim to Publish?

Emerald describes IJoEM as a journal for high-quality theoretical and empirical research that advances understanding of emerging markets through causal exploration of the emerging-market context and a clear link to theory. This emphasis matters. The journal is not simply defined by geography; it is interested in the institutional, economic, social and market conditions that make emerging economies analytically distinctive.

Emerald characterises emerging markets broadly, including developing and transitioning economies marked by rapid growth and industrialisation, evolving institutions, greater global integration and an expanding middle class. For authors, the practical implication is that the context should do intellectual work. A convincing submission normally explains why an institutional feature, market structure, transition process, resource constraint or social condition changes the expected relationship between variables or challenges theory developed in mature economies.

Topics explicitly welcomed by the journal

• International business strategies and non-market strategies
• Operations and supply-chain management in developing economies
• Innovation, digital transformation and entrepreneurship
• Financial markets, institutions and corporate governance
• International trade, investment and regional integration
• CSR, sustainability and ethical practices
• Public policy, institutional development and political economy
• Consumer behaviour and market dynamics
• Islamic finance, informal economies and inclusive finance
• Global crises, digitisation and AI effects on business and society

What may be a weaker fit?

As an editorial interpretation of the scope, a technically sound paper may still be unsuitable if the emerging-market location is incidental. For example, a generic marketing model tested in one developing country without explaining what is theoretically distinctive about that setting may not meet the journal’s emphasis. Likewise, a manuscript with a primarily local managerial problem but limited theoretical contribution could face difficulty unless it clearly connects the case to a broader emerging-market question.

Is the International Journal of Emerging Markets a Good Match for Your Research?

A useful fit test starts with the manuscript’s central claim rather than the database list. Ask whether the paper would lose an important part of its theoretical contribution if the emerging-market context were removed. If the answer is yes, the journal may be worth serious consideration.

As a practical publication-readiness step, compare your draft with several recent IJoEM papers that use a similar theory or method. Look at how those papers justify the context, position the theoretical gap, operationalise constructs and discuss implications. This is not an official journal requirement, but it is one of the best ways to judge whether your manuscript feels native to the journal rather than merely eligible by topic.

Scopus Indexing, Impact Factor and Current Journal Visibility

For researchers whose universities require recognised indexing, IJoEM has substantial visibility. Emerald lists the journal as ranked by Scopus and by the Social Science Citation Index, alongside several academic journal-ranking systems. The journal’s supplied Scopus Source ID is 21100304262.

Emerald currently displays CiteScore 2025: 10.1. It also displays a 2025 Journal Impact Factor of 3.4 and a 2025 five-year Impact Factor of 3.8. These measures answer different questions and should not be combined into a single “journal score.” CiteScore is based on Scopus data, while the Journal Impact Factor is a Clarivate metric.

How Selective Is the Journal?

Emerald reports an acceptance rate of 3.4% for submissions received from 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025. That is a low acceptance rate and signals a selective journal, but it should not be interpreted as the probability that a particular paper will be accepted. Desk screening, topic fit, theoretical contribution, research design, novelty, writing quality and reviewer evaluations all influence individual outcomes.

The same Emerald page reports 24 days to first decision for that submission period and 37 days from acceptance to publication based on the previous 12 months, last updated in April 2025. These are historical averages, not guarantees. A paper requiring multiple revision rounds or a hard-to-source reviewer may take materially longer.

What Types of Papers Can Authors Submit?

The submission system classifies the main article type as a Research Article, while the author guidelines provide categories that help describe the nature of the paper. These include research papers, viewpoints, technical papers, conceptual papers, case studies, literature reviews and general reviews. The category should reflect what the manuscript actually does rather than being chosen to make the paper look more empirical or more novel than it is.

For IJoEM specifically, the safest route is to ensure that any chosen format still produces a meaningful contribution to knowledge about emerging markets. A literature review, for example, should not simply catalogue studies; it should organise the field in a way that changes how scholars understand an emerging-market issue or exposes a theoretically important gap.

Manuscript Requirements Authors Should Check Carefully

What Happens During Peer Review?

The journal uses a double-anonymous peer-review process. Emerald states that each submission is first screened by the editorial office. A manuscript can be declined or returned at this stage if it falls outside the aims and scope, does not meet submission policies, or is not ready in terms of language or manuscript quality.

If the paper appears suitable, it is normally sent to at least two independent referees. Reviewers evaluate the manuscript and provide feedback, after which the editor may accept, request minor or major revisions, or decline the paper. For authors, this makes anonymisation important: names, biographies, acknowledgements and wording that directly identifies the authors should be removed from the review file as instructed.

How to prepare for a revision request

A strong revision response should address every reviewer point, show exactly what changed, explain respectfully when a suggestion was not followed, and keep the manuscript’s theoretical story coherent after edits. Contentxprtz can help polish a reviewer-response letter or edited manuscript, but the intellectual response and research decisions must remain with the authors.

Open Access, Publication Fees and Self-Archiving

IJoEM operates within Emerald’s hybrid open-access model. Authors can choose gold open access after acceptance, in which case the version of record is published under a CC BY 4.0 licence and an article processing charge applies unless an eligible waiver, voucher, institutional agreement or funder arrangement covers it.

Emerald also offers a green open-access route that allows authors to make the accepted manuscript openly available after official publication without an embargo period. Because APC schedules and institutional agreements change, authors should confirm the amount and eligibility on Emerald’s current APC page at the time of submission or acceptance rather than relying on an older figure copied from a directory.

Publication Ethics and Responsible Use of AI

Emerald’s author responsibilities require originality, accountability for the work, appropriate authorship, conflict-of-interest disclosure, permissions for third-party material, and relevant research-ethics and informed-consent documentation. The publisher follows COPE guidance and may use Crossref Similarity Check when assessing originality.

Emerald’s current AI policy is also important for authors. Large language models cannot be credited as authors. The publisher permits generative-AI-assisted copy-editing of an author’s existing original work subject to its transparency and accountability principles, but does not permit generative AI to create or draft new submission content. Authors should read the live policy because permitted uses can evolve.

How to Submit a Manuscript

1. Read the journal’s aims and scope again and confirm that the emerging-market context is central to the theoretical contribution.
2. Prepare the manuscript within the current 7,500–10,000-word requirement and complete the structured abstract, keywords and classification.
3. Remove author-identifying information from the review manuscript and place biographies/acknowledgements in separate files where required.
4. Check permissions, ethics approval, informed consent, funding statements, conflicts of interest, figures, tables and references.
5. Use the official submission route linked from Emerald. The corresponding author should submit directly; Emerald states that submissions should not be made by third-party proxies.
6. Add ORCID details, complete the ScholarOne metadata accurately, upload all files and verify the generated submission proof before final confirmation.
7. Save the manuscript number from the confirmation email and use it in future correspondence with the editorial office.

Publication-Readiness Checklist for IJoEM

How Contentxprtz Can Support an IJoEM Submission Ethically

Contentxprtz can support researchers who already have original scholarly work and need help preparing it for a demanding journal submission. Depending on the manuscript, relevant services may include academic editing, ESL language polishing, manuscript assessment, reference consistency checks, journal-format alignment, figure/table presentation review, cover-letter editing and reviewer-response editing.

For IJoEM, publication-readiness support is most useful when it improves the visibility of the paper’s theoretical contribution and emerging-market logic without changing the underlying research claims. Editors can flag unclear argument flow, weak transitions between theory and context, inconsistent terminology, avoidable language ambiguity or formatting non-compliance. They should not invent results, manufacture references, misrepresent authorship or bypass the journal’s submission rules.

No editing or publication-assistance service can guarantee acceptance. Final decisions remain with the journal’s editors and peer reviewers, and acceptance depends on fit, originality, methodological quality, theoretical contribution, ethics and the manuscript’s overall scholarly strength.

Authoritative Sources to Recheck Before Submission

• International Journal of Emerging Markets — Emerald Publishing: aims and scope, author guidelines, editorial team, metrics, timelines, indexing and peer-review information.
• Scopus Source ID 21100304262: live Scopus source record and current category/coverage information.
• Emerald open-access information: gold, green and current APC/waiver guidance.